MP dissatisfied with response of minister over Thameslink

DERBY North MP Chris Williamson has called in Parliament for the termination of the Thameslink contract process with Siemens.

During a debate he secured in Westminster, Mr Williamson said the contract, awarded to Siemens rather than Bombardier in Derby, was "discriminatory" and flawed.

He said the process placed too much weight on good credit ratings.

He said: "This meant the quality of products and deliverability is utterly irrelevant and that gave Siemens an unfair commercial advantage because they had a superior credit rating. I would urge the Department for Transport, even at this stage, to terminate the process and retender because it was discriminatory and an unfair process."

He also stated that Siemens should have been disqualified because it had been found guilty of corruption which, according to procurement rules, should have exempted the company from tendering.

But Transport Minister Norman Baker said that had already been investigated as part of the pre-qualification process and had been dismissed.

Mr Williamson asked if it was Siemens' fault or the DfT's that the Thameslink rolling-stock contract with Siemens had been delayed.

Mr Baker said it was a highly complex deal with a large amount of maintenance involved and therefore had to be dealt with thoroughly.

And Mr Baker failed to respond within the time of the half-hour debate to Mr Williamson's question as to whether Bombardier would automatically get the Thameslink contract if the details of the deal could not be agreed with Siemens.

Mr Williamson raised a series of questions about current procurement for contracts for which Bombardier is bidding, including Crossrail and the eVoyager deal.

He asked: "Can the minister give a guarantee that Crossrail is being taken forward correctly?

"Are the obligations that are placed on contracts being observed by his department?"

Mr Baker said: "I hope Bombardier has made competitive bids for Crossrail but I'm sure the member wants us to follow proper EU rules."

After the debate, Mr Williamson said he felt it had been "rushed" and that he would seek written responses to questions he felt went unanswered.

Comments

How this man got elected is a mystery. He was useless as a councillor and is even more useless as an MP. Roll on 2015 so this nonentity can be consigned to the ranks of the unemployed and unemployable.

I dont see any other local MP's fighting for Bombardier. I personally dont care how many people work for Seimens in the UK, its how many jobs in Derbyshire that concerns me. He is fighting for his own constiuentcy(cant spell) and I know from working in the Railway how hard he is fighting not only for Bombardier but the Railway in general.
It doesnt matter what he does, you group of moaners will all carry on sticking the daggers in.
Roll on the red arrows, may make over twenty from you tories

what has he done for derby wappy ideas the city is a mess not one new building under his leadership look nice derby city centre is like shanty town and he is responsible for bringing the incinerator plans to derby , causin mayhem claiming councillors money and mp s wages and expenses hes prbaly never spoke more than 4 times in the commons he may as well be back outside uncle toms kabin like he used to be years ago with the shoplifters .they still talk about him .it came up again the other day . was it pee wee his mate .im not sure .think back